Woburn chiropractor running for governor

Friday

Jun 26, 2009 at 12:01 AMJun 26, 2009 at 7:02 PM

He’s a 46-year-old chiropractor from Woburn who has never run for public office and whose only management experience has been running his own medical practice. But Dr. Gerry Dembrowski has declared himself a candidate for governor of Massachusetts, saying he’s tired of the “craziness” and wastefulness in state government and hopeful that voters are ready for a reformer who looks out for their needs instead of special interests’.

Staff reports

He’s a 46-year-old chiropractor from Woburn who has never run for public office and whose only management experience has been running his own medical practice.

But Dr. Gerry Dembrowski has declared himself a candidate for governor of Massachusetts, saying he’s tired of the “craziness” and wastefulness in state government and hopeful that voters are ready for a reformer who looks out for their needs instead of special interests’.

“Truly and honestly, I’m in this for you, for your family and my family,” said Dembrowski, a Republican who is married to Margerie, a pediatric nurse practitioner.

He paraphrases Dr. Martin Luther King that the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands during times of comfort and convenience but where he stands during times of turmoil and controversy. And Massachusetts, he says, is in turmoil.

Dembrowski said he is disturbed that both the House and Senate approved 25 percent hikes in the sales tax this spring at a time when the number of unemployed stood at 280,000. He cites a Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University study claiming that such a proposal would destroy about 12,000 jobs and discourage nearly $51 million in business investment.

“It’s going to cost you and me an extra $500 a year, and it will hit low-income families the hardest, so that’s what we should expect from our senators and representatives? I don’t think so,” he said.

A Woburn resident of four decades, Dembrowski says he is also unhappy with Gov. Deval Patrick’s support for hikes in sales tax, turnpike tolls and gas and business taxes – and with the corruption he sees on Beacon Hill.

Noting that the last three speakers of the House have been indicted, he said, “Who are these people for? They’re only in it for themselves and the special interest groups that fill their piggy banks.”

At the same time, Dembrowski says he opposes budgetary cuts that would affect police, teachers, librarians and children in Department of Youth Services custody across the state.

So how would he balance the state budget in difficult economic times?

“As governor I will bring the switch from a line-item budget to an activity-based budget to determine the exact expenditures of all department and departmental interaction, get government out of the way of business productivity and eliminate regulation and taxes that increase the cost of doing business in Massachusetts,” he said.

In addition, the candidate says he would allow cities and town unrestricted access to the state's Group Insurance Commission, which he claims would save $2.5 billion, and “cure the $13 billion unfunded pension benefit problem saving the people $1.5 billion a year.”

“I would also get rid of laws like the Pacheco Law, which effectively eliminated the state’s ability to contract with private firms for services they can perform more efficiently than state worker and save the people over $300 million a year,” he said.

Dembrowski, whose organizing committee is now registered with the state, has already started campaigning through speaking engagements and interviews.

So does an unknown from Woburn running as a Republican in a Democratic state have a chance at winning the commonwealth’s top office?

“Of course,” Dembrowski said. “I think the people will probably look at it and say, ‘He will do the right thing for us.’ Does it take a lot of experience to do the right thing? Now, it just takes a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of thinking.”

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